Evaline:
When I woke up, the other side of the bed was cold.
I blinked against the pale morning light and turned my head toward the bedside table. The clock’s hands pointed stubbornly to half past ten. My lips parted slightly in shock.
I could tell that River had left hours ago, and yet, I hadn’t even stirred when he did.
A strange emptiness pooled in my chest at his absence, but I pushed it down. He had duties, always did. And last night... last night was still too raw in my mind, too overwhelming.
The bond we had officially accepted was still humming inside , as if my very soul was learning how to share its space with his along with his brothers.
With a sigh, I slid out of bed and began straightening the sheets. The simple rhythm of smoothing the blanket helped ground , pulling back into routine.
Once done, I padded across the room, poured myself a cup of warm water from the flask left for , and drifted toward the glass wall.
The view below was breathtaking. The side garden was buried under a blanket of snow, pristine and untouched, sparkling faintly in the weak sunlight.
Thin clouds were covering the sky, drifting lazily to cover and uncover the sun, allowing only shy fragnts of sunlight to reach the earth. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to soften the harshness of winter. I exhaled slowly, savoring the small comfort.
Today was Saturday and Rowan, Mallory, and Kyros would be arriving soon. They had promised to spend the day with at the mansion. I should have been happy, and I was, but a pang of guilt tugged at all the sa. Noah, Selene, and Ria still didn’t know about my pregnancy, or the truth about my mate bonds with three of the Thorne brothers.
They deserved to know, but I didn’t have the energy... not yet. Answering their questions, facing their judgnt or even their worry, it felt like too much to carry in my current state.
So after thinking about it and talking with Mallory, Kyros, and Rowan, I had decided that I would tell them everything once the baby was born. Only a few more weeks. I could hold out until then.
With my cup empty, I set it aside and began my morning stretches. Each movent and each breath felt deliberate. I finished with ditation, centering myself in silence, before slipping into the shower.
The hot water loosened my muscles, washed away the remnants of restless dreams, and by the ti I dressed, I felt lighter.
But my stomach didn’t care about ditation or clarity. It was grumbling loud enough to echo.
Heading downstairs, I expected to find Oscar in the living room, maybe Draven if he had returned already. Instead, I stopped in my tracks the mont I stepped inside.
Because Sera was standing there, as if waiting for soone... for .
My brows lifted slightly, though I quickly schooled my expression. She was dressed in her usual crisp black-and-white uniform, her hair pulled back tightly into a bun. Her posture, her eyes - polite but distant - were familiar. So familiar it pulled straight back to last sumr, when I was still nothing but a prisoner here.
Back when she had looked at with disdain.
"Good morning, Lady Evaline," she greeted, her voice carefully asured.
I blinked at her before forcing my lips into a small, polite smile. "Good morning, Sera."
There was a ti when hearing her voice would have made my blood chilled. When even standing in the sa room with her felt unbearable. But so much had changed in the past eight months.
I was no longer a maid in this house, no longer the unwanted daughter of their enemy. My swollen belly and the bond with the brothers had altered everything... whether they admitted it or not.
Still, I didn’t expect what ca next.
Sera lifted her hand, signaling silently.
And within monts, the vast living room filled. One by one, servants poured in. Cooks, maids, butlers - faces I hadn’t seen together in one place since... ever. The once-spacious room suddenly looked crowded, every inch of floor taken.
Before I could ask what was happening, they all bowed. And in one voice, they spoke, "Lady Evaline, we are sorry."
I froze, the words settling in my chest like a weight.
They straightened only when I asked them to, my voice shaky but firm. And then Sera stepped forward, her eyes softer than I had ever seen them.
"We are deeply sorry," she said. "For how we treated you when you first ca to this mansion."
Her gaze didn’t waver, though guilt flickered in her expression. "At that ti, you were the enemy’s daughter. You had no place here, and we let our judgnts cloud our humanity. But..." she hesitated, glancing briefly at the others before continuing, "it wasn’t until you returned for Christmas that we realized how wrong we had been."
Her words dug straight into , stirring mories I had buried deep. The whispers. The glares. The constant weight of being unwanted, unwelco.
"You earned the Alphas’ trust," she went on. "You beca one of their own. And yet, despite how we treated you... you never took revenge. You never abused your position. You never once used their affection for you as a weapon against us. You remained polite. Humble. Kind."
Her voice cracked faintly on the last word.
I swallowed hard as my throat tightened. Their faces, all of them, showed guilt, regret, sincerity. And against my will, warmth blood inside , tangled with the ache of old wounds.
I shook my head quickly, blinking back the sting in my eyes. "Please... you don’t need to apologize anymore. I let go of that past a long ti ago. And you should too." My voice trembled, but I ant every word.
It was then that the sound broke through.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
It was slow, deliberate.
The entire room turned, including , toward the source of the noise.
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